Indiana Fever Wins Top Pick in 2023 WNBA Draft

Luck is on the side of the Indiana Fever who won the 22^nd annual WNBA Draft Lottery and earned the top pick in the 2023 WNBA Draft to be held on Monday, April 10, 2023.  

The Lottery results were revealed during a 30-minute WNBA Draft Lottery special on ESPN2 leading into its women’s college basketball game featuring the defending National Champion University of South Carolina at the University of Maryland.

Indiana, which won the WNBA Draft Lottery for the first time in franchise history, entered the Lottery with the most chances to land the top pick (442 out of 1,000). 

The Minnesota Lynx, which had the fewest chances to win the top pick (104 out of 1,000), will have the second selection. The Atlanta Dream will select third after having the second-most chances to land the top pick (276). The Washington Mystics, which had 178 chances to receive the first pick, will choose fourth.

By missing the 2022 WNBA Playoffs, Indiana, Atlanta, and Minnesota qualified for the Lottery drawing. Washington’s spot in the Lottery was the result of the Mystics having obtained the right to swap its own 2023 first-round pick with Atlanta for Los Angeles’ 2023 first-round pick (previously acquired by Atlanta in a deal in February 2022).

Lottery odds were based on the cumulative records of the Fever, Dream, Sparks, and Lynx over the past two regular seasons (2021 and 2022).

Most recently, the Mystics won the Lottery for the 2022 WNBA Draft and traded that No. 1 overall selection to the Dream, which chose 2022 WNBA Rookie of the Year Rhyne Howard with the top pick. 

A representative from the accounting firm of Ernst & Young was in attendance to oversee the Lottery process.

The following are results of the 2023 WNBA Draft Lottery presented by State Farm:

1. Indiana Fever
2. Minnesota                                                       
3. Atlanta                                                            
4. Washington from *Los Angeles via Atlanta 
   
   Remaining Order for the First Round
   
5. Chicago from Phoenix
6. New York
7. Indiana from ^Dallas
8. Atlanta from Washington
9. Seattle
10. Connecticut
11. Dallas from ^Chicago (26-10) via Indiana
12. Minnesota from Las Vegas (26-10)